MAKER: Stronger frames by mimicking nature

Abstract

Quadcopters and first person view drones (FPV) have become extremely popular over the last few years while the prices were decreasing. Quadcopter includes mechanical and electronic components that needs to be designed lightweight. Quadcopter components are made of carbon fiber composite or PE. The purpose of this study is to design a lightweight but stronger quadcopter frame. A nature inspired quadcopter frame has been designed and manufactured with additive manufacturing. A finite element analysis (FEA) is completed before designing the nature inspired frame to see the stress distribution on a solid frame. Actual forces are applied to simulate and see the high stressed regions of the frame, then further modified the frame structure to reinforce these sections by increasing the density of the structure inside the frame. This non-homogenous honeycomb structure resembles the internal structure of a bone. The structure of the frame is engineered to provide higher rigidity while maintaining the light weight benefits. The purpose of this paper is to review the design of quadcopters and to report a lightweight frame design using additive manufacturing. A solid frame is redesigned to maximize its strength to weight ratio by increasing the amount of material in high stress areas, while decreasing material in other areas with lower stress concentrations in order to optimize the lightweight capabilities while maintaining structural integrity.